1. Description of the Prior Art
Telephone answering machines typically allow for the playback of a recorded message from the called party, and the recording of messages from the caller. A number of options may be provided in the form of touch-tone button sequences that allow the caller to reach a particular called party out of a list of possible parties. In addition, various voice menus may be provided to guide the caller through the possible options. For example, the AUDIX.RTM. system of AT&T Corp. allows such options. The recorded responses may be customized depending on the party or option chosen by the caller. However, if a called party wishes to screen incoming calls before answering, the possibilities are at present limited. For example, it is known to utilize a private code that is entered by the calling party on a touch-tone pad before allowing access to the called party. However, this requires prior arrangements between the called and calling parties that may not be convenient in many cases, and is susceptible to lost or misplaced codes and various other problems. It is also known to use the incoming phone number, or alternatively voice recognition, to verify a caller's identity. These techniques are typically implemented in digital systems by various combinations of hardware and software. However, voice recognition may require training the voice recognition system a large number of times in order to obtain adequate accuracy.
Speech recognition has been used in cellular phones, wherein a given phone number is dialed when a given phrase is spoken, in order to provide hands-free dialing. Speech recognition and speech synthesis are also being used in personal computer (PC) applications. For example, trainable speech recognition has been utilized to implement control of various computer operations, such as copying a file or launching an application, etc. Text-to-speech synthesis has also been used for various applications, wherein the PC operator types or otherwise inputs the text. Typical applications include reading long documents or speaking simple requests for inputs of required data, etc. However, present day speech recognition techniques may be limited to a relatively small number of speaker-independent words that can be recognized with adequate accuracy, especially if the techniques are implemented in low-cost systems. Also, the time required for the system to identify a given word may be inordinately long for the rapid response required in many conversational situations, again especially if implemented in low-cost systems.
2. Summary of the Invention
I have invented a telephone answering machine and method of use that utilizes speech recognition in order to determine whether the caller is on a pre-defined list of callers to be accepted. The list may be generated by various input techniques, including a spoken voice at the called party's location, or keyboard or graphical input techniques. If the caller is determined as being on the list, the machine allows the call to progress along a first sequence, which typically includes ringing the called phone. If the called phone does not answer, the first sequence may provide for responding with a customized message for the calling party. If the caller is not identified as being on the list, the machine allows the call to progress along a second sequence, which typically includes responding with a standard recorded message. In either case, the caller is typically allowed to record a message for the called party. Other lists may optionally be provided, as for determining the context of a call, for example.